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FRIDAY, May 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) — For patients with aquaporin-4-immunoglobulin G-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), eculizumab is associated with a lower risk for relapse, according to a study published online May 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/i> to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, held from May 4 to 10 in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Sean J. Pittock, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues conducted a randomized trial involving 143 adults with NMOSD who received either intravenous eculizumab or matched placebo in a 2:1 ratio. The primary end point was the first adjudicated relapse.<\/p>\n
After 23 of the 24 prespecified adjudicated relapses, the trial was stopped given the uncertainty in estimating when the final event would occur. The researchers found that 3 percent of the eculizumab group and 43 percent of the placebo group had adjudicated relapses (hazard ratio, 0.06; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.02 to 0.20). The adjudicated annualized relapse rate was 0.02 and 0.35 in the eculizumab and placebo groups, respectively (rate ratio, 0.04; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.01 to 0.15). The mean change in the Expanded Disability Status Scale was \u22120.18 and 0.12 in the eculizumab and placebo groups, respectively (least-squares mean difference, \u22120.29; 95 percent confidence interval, \u22120.59 to 0.01).<\/p>\n
“Since there was no significant between-group difference in measures of disability progression, the long-term effect of eculizumab in patients with NMOSD warrants further study,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Alexion, which manufactures eculizumab and funded the study.<\/p>\n
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